Jerkin (garment)
A jerkin is a man's short close-fitting jacket, made usually of light-colored leather, and often without sleeves, worn over the doublet in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The term is also applied to a similar sleeveless garment worn by the British Army in the twentieth century.
The stock phrase, buff jerkin, refers to an oiled oxhide jerkin, as worn by soldiers.
The origin of the word is unknown. The Dutch word jurk, a child's frock, often taken as the source, is modern, and represents neither the sound nor the sense of the English word.
Read more about Jerkin (garment): Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Twentieth Century